The battlefield has grown still.
The previously brown earth has been turned into a blood-red swamp, littered with the bodies of thousands. Olaf breathes heavily, and looks around to see if any challenger remains, and when any fails to present itself, he dislodges his axe from the body of a xeno commander, where it had been buried.
He puts the axe on his shoulder, and turns around. That had been a pleasant distraction.
He can see that the numberless xeno lives weren’t given freely, and a large number of valiant human warriors had fallen this day.
He removes his helmet, and breathes in the metallic-scenting air.
Now that the blood rage has passed, he feels his entire body aching from the strain, but he ignores it, and walks towards the human lines.
Where there had once been trenches, there were now glorified mass-graves, several Human dead buried in the sheer mass of xeno flesh.
But Olaf didn’t mourn them. They had died well, and he was certain Valhalla would accept their souls.
He looks around, and he must admit that he feels relieved when he sees Mayuki, now also stripped of her helmet, getting bandages wrapped around her forehead.
At least she was alive.
He makes way towards her.
Her armor is stained from top to toe, and he can see that her blade lies broken, still thrust through a particularly large alien.
He smiled.
“Are you injured, commander?”
Mayuki waves it away.
“It’s nothing. I took a plasma bolt to the head. The helmet absorbed it, but the impact might have given me a mild concussion.”
He nods to himself slightly, and seats himself opposed to her, placing his axe over his knees.
“You fought well.”
Olaf notices that he didn’t even have any trouble pushing aside ‘for a woman.’
Maybe it was because she had fought in a way that would make her ancestors proud, or maybe for some other reason. He frankly didn’t care.
She gives him a brilliant smile, and he is notices that his heart almost skips a beat.
“Thank you.”
He has never felt ashamed before in his life, but now he felt inadequate.
The silence between them drags on.
Olaf coughs.
“So, any news from the ships?”
Mayuki’s fond smile turns into a ferociously satisfied grin.
“We broke their back, and the survivors ran away with their tails between their legs.
Do you feel up for hunting them down?”
Olaf answers her grin with one of his own.
“Yes. I have a pony to replace.”
McCallen watched as the Gajun ran to try to put out the fire that was now spreading through the military outpost.
“Allright, here’s the plan. We take the corvette that they have docked over on the west side of the camp, we then make a sweep and pick up the others. You understand?”
Jenkins nods.
“Yup. Let’s get going.”
They exit the barracks where Jenkins had been held, and make their way through the camp. The number of guards outside is fairly low, seeing as most seem to be running around their burning camp like headless chicken.
As they approach the corvette, though, they find it under heavy guard.
“So, how do we get past the lizardpeople?”
McCallen sighs.
“They’re Gajun, not lizard people.”
Jenkins looks at McCallen with a confused look.
“What’s the difference?”
McCallen sighs.
“You know what? Never mind. You should take a xenobiology course when we get back to Alliance space.”
Jenkins snorts.
“No one’s got time for that.”
McCallen has to hold back the urge to slap the private over the head.
Jenkins eyes grow wide, and his mouth turns to a wide grin.
“Hey cap. I just got an idea.”
“This has to be the second most stupid thing you’ve ever got me to do.”
McCallen’s voice was somewhat distorted by the box that he was now inside of.
“Yeah, well, if you can it we might survive through it, too.”
McCallen and Jenkins were cowering in boxes, slowly inching their way towards the back of the ship.
McCallen was trying his hardest to peek out of a thin handgrip that was in the side of the box to see if there was anyone paying attention to them.
The coast was clear.
“Move, move!” He exclaims, in a hushed voice.
They lift their boxes slightly, and start to sneak towards the hatch into the ship.
Seconds later, McCallen could see a shadow from within the ship.
“Down!”
They put down their boxes, and remain completely still.
Two Gajun step out of the ship, and from the looks of it, they’re part of the crew.
They turn in the direction of McCallen and Jenkins, and stop as they see the boxes.
They look confused, and the leftmost Gajun points at the boxes, and speaks.
McCallen really wished he had a translator with him.
The second gajun shrugs, and they moved past.
Wait, did it actually fucking work?
This was crazy, but McCallen wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
They made it onto the ship.
Jenkins is the first to throw off his box.
“I TOLD you.”
McCallen has trouble finding words.
“What can I say? It was simply stupid enough to work.”
Jenkins arms his plasma rifle with a grin.
“Let’s do this!”
He turns and charges into the depths of the ship.
“LEEEEEROOOYYYY MMMMMJEEENKIIINS!!!”
What.
The.
Fuck.
He could hear the sounds of plasma fire.
“GOD DAMNIT JENKINS.”
He seals the exterior bulkhead, and follows the private.
To be honest, Olaf appreciated that he was afforded a bit of rest.
The subspace trail of the Quintar fleet had been to a relatively distant system, and Olaf had decided that he deserved a little R&R.
He was now sitting in the officer’s bath, letting warm water soothe his aching muscles.
The bath water was also stained by the dust, grime and gore he had picked up planet side.
He was very happy to be off that forsaken rock, and the sensation of getting out of his armor was very pleasant.
The armor was now discarded on the floor, as Olaf leans back and just enjoys the moment.
Nothing beats a bath after a battle.
He heard a quick knock, and the door open.
He could have sworn he had locked up.
“Mind if I join you?”
Olaf stops in the middle of rising out of the bath.
Well, except maybe that.
“Be my guest.”